


Reverb

by hercircumstance



Category: Fringe
Genre: 3x09/Marionette, Gen, episode coda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-14
Updated: 2010-12-14
Packaged: 2017-10-13 16:29:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/139334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hercircumstance/pseuds/hercircumstance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Coda to episode 3x09/Marionette. Olivia finds herself at Astrid's apartment after the events of Marionette.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reverb

The pillow smelled faintly of the closet Astrid pulled it from earlier that night. It was that familiar smell things got when put away for a long time with coats and hats and boxes of old seasonal decorations. Olivia tugged the covers up until they came over her nose. The unfamiliar room had turned cold over the last hour. She thought she was exhausted enough to finally fall asleep on the couch, but she settled on simply being somewhere where she had never been before. Where the other one had never been. 

It wasn't easy to be awkward around Astrid. Even Walter had instantly took to her company if not her name. When Olivia showed up at the door unannounced she tried a few hesitant words before going tight lipped in the cold air. 

Astrid had given her a look she usually reserved for Walter and then acted as though she had been expecting her all along. It wasn't until they got inside where it was warm that she realized she had left without a coat or her phone and was still wearing her clothes from the day before. She had been aimlessly riding in the back of a taxi for forty-five minutes before the address popped into her head. She followed the thought back to its source without ever really considering an explanation for the late appearance. 

"You look like you need something to drink." Astrid padded barefoot through the small living room and into the kitchen. She was wearing a yellow robe but didn't appear to have been sleeping. Olivia followed a little more cautiously through the dimly lit space. The apartment was small and full of furniture that was meant for a larger place and there were books and papers laying about. Nothing seemed untidy, but it was pleasantly lived in.

In the kitchen, Astrid was already rooting around in the cupboards. Olivia took a seat at the table where the chair had been pulled out and watched as Astrid circumvented the alcohol and heated up some milk for hot chocolate. 

"It's probably too late for this," she said as she handed Olivia a cup and took her own to the other chair. She hadn't put much emphasis on the words, but Olivia was taking everything for double meaning the last few days. They sipped at their drinks. She wasn't thirsty, but it was warm and it had been a long time since she had proper chocolate. 

"I wanted to apologize," Olivia started bluntly before she took a steadying breath. Astrid paused mid sip and slowly put her mug down. "I've not always been the most available to people. To friends. It's not easy for me."  _Like it is for her.  
_  
Her mind drifted back through the months as they seemed apt to do. Sometimes it felt like she was still drifting between the two worlds. Like the cord would eventually be drawn taut and she'd be snapped back through that space between and find herself somewhere else entirely. More than once she longed to see Charlie again. Not her Charlie though. Everything had double meaning. 

"There was a Charlie there and others and they were good people. It had been so easy to be like that there. It's hard to explain, but a part of me remembers what that was like." Her eyes refocused and she was back in Astrid's kitchen. Had she gone somewhere? Astrid was beaming a tired, resolved smile at her which finally startled her back to reality. 

"You're smiling."

"I'm just happy you've been found. I was worried about you. Broyles had been just short of calling out the cavalry when you weren't answering your phone. I told him to try again tomorrow, but he hasn't been the same since -" There were so many unfinished sentences. So many damaged people who were like the soft spots she could feel in their world. It wasn't just a shimmer anymore. It was dead heroes and living heroes. 

"I should call him-"

"Let me worry about that. It's just a few hours until morning anyway. They've probably gone to sleep."  _They_. The implications swirled in her mind. "Do you want me to drive you home, Olivia?" She must have reacted in some noticeable way because the next thing she knew Astrid had her in the hallway where she watched as the younger woman pulled down boxes from the closet and unearth a stash of well worn bedding. 

When she was finished, Olivia's arms were filled with old crocheted blankets and a set of sheets with My Little Pony printed on them that would have fit a twin bed. They went back to the living room where Astrid unfolded the bedding and assembled it over the couch in a precise fashion that had her thinking back to her doppelganger. They were opposites in some ways, but fully capable for what they were called on to do in their world.

"Get me if you need anything. Anything at all."

She had mechanically taken her shoes and jacket off and as an afterthought tore off the band that held her hair back and lost it somewhere on the floor. The couch was over stuffed and after a moment of shifting around she felt that if she held still she'd be invisible there under the covers and sunken into the cushions. Sleep was ellusive, but it felt as though time went by quickly and when she opened her eyes again she could hear birds chirping just before the sun was coming up. She also heard the phone ringing.

She stayed completely still as she heard bare feet on the wood floor heading to the kitchen where Astrid had left her phone on the table.

"Hello?" Astrid was trying to be quiet. "Walter, I can hear you breathing… Oh, sorry Peter. The number came up as -" 

Olivia resisted the urge to turn her head towards the kitchen. Her back was beginning to ache as she waited. She moved another fraction of an inch but that did little to alleviate her back or her rapidly evaporating nerves. 

"Yes, she's here. No, she can't come to the phone." The tension in her back immediately began to relax. There was another lengthening pause before Astrid's tone turned a little softer. "Sleeping. I don't know. A few hours maybe."

It was strange to overhear someone talking about you. A particularly loud bird had taken up by the window and it was as good of an excuse as any to stop the pretense of sleep. She let herself stretch and inched up until she was sitting in the nest of bedding. 

The warm spot was like an anchor but from where she sat she could see Astrid talking at the table. The yellow robe was gone and she was wearing a tshirt and flannel bottoms and alternating bare feet on the cold floor. The image suddenly reminded her of her sister and she quickly buried the swell of emotion that stirred. She was terrified of what she would find there. It was the final shoe that had yet to drop. 

She didn't hear the end of the conversation. She was somewhere in the between again. A place where Mother and Rachel and Ella lived together and there was another Olivia there with them. Not her. Never her. But in a million universes it existed and in a million it didn't and in this one her Mother was dead and Rachel and Ella were alive and she was there in a universe that was like those. She realized somewhat coldly that if it wasn't for Peter she would never be sure if she had returned or hadn't just slipped into another cruel world. When she was following the rippling cord there had been empty universes but for one. The improbable universe with this unlikely family where a boy could live. 

"You here?" The cord snapped and she was again sitting on Astrid's couch. She was cold despite the blankets and a wave of seasickness washed over and just as soon as it was there it was gone. Astrid was crouched down in front of her. Her hand rested lightly on her knee, but gave it a jostle when she didn't respond quickly.

"Peter?" The name hurt but the name also seemed to tie her down to the room. To the couch. To Astrid's frightened face which relaxed when she heard the name. 

"Peter's fine. Worried, but fine."

"I need to talk to him. Can I use your phone?"


End file.
